Securing track to a baseboard

[Milano]

Folks

 

What methods do you use to securing track and points to the baseboard without using track pins?

 

Regards

Milano

[Kris]

Glue, PVA, or Copydex both work well.  

[Ray H]

Copydex and similar adhesives can be a bit more difficult to use but because they don't set rock hard you still a degree of flexibility in the "joint" which can result in quieter running depending on the surface you are sticking the track/underlay to.

[yelrow]

I only use  screws, tiny ones, as with frequent layout alterations, glue, etc, would not be sensible. john

[Sir TophamHatt]

Some people pin and then use the PVA mix.

I used copydex on one section, PVA on another and the other is waiting to be done.

I haven't had time to decide if the copydex is quiter/better, but I can tell when the train runs over a section that it's different.

[johna]

Interesting info about using screws. Can you buy them online?

Edited March 24, 2018 by johna

[Milano]

Thanks folks for your input. If using PVA glue do you apply it to the baseboard first then sure the point /track with a heavy weight until it is dry?

 

Milano

[Guest]

Thanks folks for your input. If using PVA glue do you apply it to the baseboard first then sure the point /track with a heavy weight until it is dry?

 

A lot of folk will "paint" a strip of PVA onto the baseboard, position the track and then ballast at the same time. I always prefer to ballast later, so I tend to use a fine-tip applicator and coat the underside of the sleepers with PVA. At least that way, you can avoid gumming up point tie bars. For weighting the track, raid the cupboards for soup/baked bean/spaghetti tins.

[The Johnster]

I am not a fan of track pins, but use them to secure the track in position while the pva goes off; this is particularly important with flexible track which might 'spring' out of position otherwise.  My objection to them is that, in order to secure the track firmly, they must be driven hard enough into the baseboard to risk distorting the sleeper, which will pull the rails inwards out of gauge.  In my 'hold the track steady while the glue dries' method they are removed once the track is fixed with the glue.

 

I paint strips of undiluted pva to lay the track on to, leaving gaps where the tie bars of points will be.  The track must be laid level, with smooth level joins, especially near pointwork or baseboard joins.  When the glue has gone off, remove the weights you held it down with, and test run to establish performance and electrical continuity paying particular attention to points.  

 

Ballast should be built up to or close to sleeper top level, so ballasting is a separate job.  Lay it and spray with a pva/warm water 50/50 mix to which a drop of washing up liquid has been added to reduce surface tension; capillary action will soak it into the ballast.  When it has gone off hard, collect the surplus and do another complete test run.  You will probably have to dig ballast out from check rail flangeways on the pointwork and scrape the blades where pva has got on them to maintain good electrical switching at the points if you are using insulfrogs.  You will then have several weeks of continuing to scrape ballast out of the flangeways, but it is worth it in the end.

 

Ballasting is an onerous job, and I am glad that my BLT did not require too much of it!

[Guest ShildonShunter]

Hi milano I only use track pins when laying track to boards but if I'm building a boxfile or small diorama I use PVA glue and also the ballasting helps to secure the track. Hope this helps

[Dunsignalling]

Having once watched Norman Solomon lay and ballast around ten yards of track and several points in about an hour, I'd vouch for the one hit method. With the proviso that the track was finescale with thin sleepers, not thick bases like r-t-r or Streamline.

 

HOWEVER, Norman's skills are legendary and the time spent in the preparation that enables him to do that must be taken into account, too. 

 

My rule of thumb, is that what he can do in an hour, I'd struggle to manage in a day, and his would still be better............ 

 

John

Edited March 24, 2018 by Dunsignalling

[Mike Storey]

Are you sticking the track direct to the baseboard, or on to some form of underlay, such as cork, foam or insulation strip?

 

If you want quiet running but are sticking direct to the baseboard, there is virtually no point in using copydex/latex, as it is the baseboard that amplifies most of the sound. PVA will set hard and amplify sound too.

 

If you are using an underlay, then latex glue will give you quieter running. Copydex is an expensive version of latex glue - you can buy its industrial equivalent from many builders' merchants.

 

But if noise does not matter, go with PVA any day of the week. Cheaper and easier.

[Milano]

Putting the track directly unto the baseboard and not worried about the sound so will try the pva glue. Great advice folks

[brianusa]

Putting the track directly unto the baseboard and not worried about the sound so will try the pva glue. Great advice folks

 

You'll worry later!

 

Brian.

[Bernard Lamb]

Why not follow the advice of Peco and use impact adhesive?

They should know what they are talking about.

I have just redone part of my storage sidings and used Evostick and it seems to do the job.

Bernard

[DCB]

Putting the track directly unto the baseboard and not worried about the sound so will try the pva glue. Great advice folks

 

It rather depends on your baseboard surface and tracklaying skill as to whether you will regret glueing the track down.   I stick it down outside, PVA glue and sand cement mortar for ballast but its a one shot procedure, get it wrong and you can scrap the track. Indoors I usually pin it down except some experiments the last of which last week the track didn't stay flat and, yes you guessed, I had to take it up again and ruined the length of track.

[The Johnster]

I don't personally like underlay either, though it makes a difference if noise is an issue.  I want to encourage my trains to be noisy and sound like trains, to the extent that I make slitting disc incisions in the rails to get the correct 'da dum, da dum' wheelbeat sound.  If you are going to use underlay, I would suggest cork bark tiles cut to shape and laid beneath the track; this will assist in giving you the correct cross-section profile for a main line as well as it builds up the ballast shoulder, but would look far too good for my South Wales 1950s BLT.  

 

Please, don't use proprietary foam underlay.  It is dreadful stuff whose only purpose is to make money out of people silly enough to use it.  It looks like foam (because it is), nothing like ballast, is the wrong colour, allows your track to distort beneath the weight of the trains (which real track does, but real locos and stock have suspension), and will disintegrate over time into powder.  It is Satan's expectorant.

[johna]

Folks - going to try pva glue and a couple of tins acting as weights on a small length of track.

 

Johna

[BigAndy]

Just to add my twopenneth...........I dislike using trackpins, always have, so as I have recently been tracklaying on Glasgow Queen Street, I thought I'd share.

 

Buy a load of cheap pound shop superglue. When you are tracklaying and need to hold the thing in a particular place, use temporary board pins - y'know, a bit like drawing pins but have multi-coloured plastic tops. Once you're happy with the alignment, tack in place with the superglue - I tend to squeeze in and around the edges of the sleepers. I also use a Cyanoacrylate accelerator, dispensed out of a syringe - makes the glue go off instantly and you can then remove the pins.

 

You can lay yards and yards of track in record time like this, if so desired. Then of course, once ballasting has been completed using the PVA method, the trackwork is going nowhere fast. Simples.

 

Easy to do, cheap and cheerful but stops any unsightly track pins or holes in sleepers etc.

 

cheers

 

Andy

[Vecchio]

Why not follow the advice of Peco and use impact adhesive?

They should know what they are talking about.

I have just redone part of my storage sidings and used Evostick and it seems to do the job.

Bernard

 

Why not follow the advice of PECO? I suppose they want to sell more track....   

Impact glue is not forgiving. With PVA you can always correct the position if you are not happy (minimum for a few minutes) 

 

I am a clear fan of track glued to cork underlay with PVA.

[ColinK]

I also used superglue to hold track in place before ballasting, but its G scale.

[PenrithBeacon]

I have built track but I have only watched others lay track if you get my drift. From watching the process I get the impression that PVA adds to the rigidity of the layout but can be heavy and unyielding. Copydex is lighter and allows the track to move but when you are drilling holes for droppers the adhesive tends to clog up the flutes of the drills. It's best to clear away part of the trackbed to drill holes and then repair the ballast after the droppers have been finished.

Edited March 29, 2018 by PenrithBeacon

[Karhedron]

Definitely copydex for me. It sets faster than PVA and grips firmly without being rock-solid. Also it is easier to lift if necessary as it can be softened with heat.

 

My wife was once rather bemused to come home and find me relaying a siding with the aid of a hair dryer.

[Hroth]

Just started laying track using PVA to secure it.

 

At the snails pace I'm currently working at, waiting for it dry is the least of my worries, but I'm very satisfied by its holding power.

[The Johnster]

My approach, glueing the track directly to the board with pva, using pins to lightly secure it while the glue goes off and removing them afterwards, then ballasting, as part of a sort of holistic policy of building the layout upwards, from the baseboard towards the finished scenified product, rather than starting at one end and proceeding horizontally.  This works well for me and I get the desired result in a way i understand and feel confident with, but may not be suitable for larger layouts or where noise suppression is a factor.